It is a great honour to be presenting the works of François-Marie Banier, the photographer and painter, in Buenos Aires. It is also quite a challenge: for if an exhibition by this complex artist will enrich the cultural life of our city, allowing us to appreciate, reflect upon and share its creative obsessions, it is very difficult to describe in only a few words a man whose work touches on areas as diverse as literature, theatre, painting and photography.

Few artists have mined the seam of their torments with such originality and talent.

In each of these photographs the gazes and bearing of the characters, the nuances and the play of shadow and light reflect the profoundly human concerns that run through all his work.

Culture takes us out of ourselves, enable us to think, to imagine and to grow. It enriches our personal and social lives. The chief goal of the policy of the City Government of Buenos Aires is to make outstanding artistic and cultural works accessible to all its inhabitants and to all its visitors.

The exhibition by François-Marie Banier at the Recoleta Cultural Centre will help us to broaden the horizon of our perceptions and, even better, bring us closer to the mystery of art.